Volume 4 Issue 1 Jan/Feb 2008 News from the Department of Family and Social Medicine

NEW MMC PRESIDENT We are all very proud and happy to learn that Steve Safyer, M.D., one of our very own RPSM graduates (Social Internal Medicine, 1985), has been named President and CEO of Montefiore Medical Center! We all wish Steve the best and are looking forward to working with him in this important new role. Please see link below for more information. http://www.montefiore.org/whoweare/stories/safyer-appointed-president-and-ceo-of-montefiore/

This month’s Grants, Publications and Presentations

GRANTS Dr. Sean O’Mahony and the palliative care service at Montefiore Medical Center received a grant entitled; ‘Video-conference and face-to-face palliative care and bioethics consultations for elderly patients at Beth Abraham Health Systems and Morningside House’ for $162,179 to support a two-year start-up program to extend palliative care and bioethics consultative services to two local nursing homes, Morningside House and Beth Abraham Health Systems through the use of video-conference and direct face-to-face consultations.

PUBLICATIONS Chambers EC, Heshka S, Huffaker LY, Xiong Y, Wang J, Eden E, Gallagher D, Pi-Sunyer FX. Truncal adiposity and lung function in older black women. Lung 2007; 186:13-17. Levy BS, Sidel VW, eds. Terrorism and Public Health. Updated paperback edition New York: Oxford University Press, 2007

Levy BS, Sidel VW, eds. War and Public Health. Second edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007

Sidel VW. Herbert Abrams in China: International Social Medicine. Journal of Public Health Policy 2007; 28:165-180.

Sidel VW, Levy BS. Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: Opportunities for Control and Abolition. American Journal of Public Health 2007; 97: 1589-1594.

Sidel VW. Vertical Nuclear Proliferation. Medicine, Conflict and Survival. 2007; 23:249-258.

Sidel VW, Levy BS. Collective Violence: Health Impact and Prevention. In: IOM Workshop on Violence Prevention in Low-and Middle-Income Countries, Mark Rosenberg and James Mercy, eds. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine, 2007.

PRESENTATIONS Asgary RG, Doorley S. Common Infectious and Non-infectious Diseases Among Recent Immigrants at the South Bronx Refugee and Immigrant Clinic. Poster Presentation, 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Travel Health, Philadelphia, PA, Nov 2007

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Farewell to… Shoshana Silberman, whose position at AECOM has come to an end. The timing for her came at a time where she had planned to return to San Francisco, where she left her heart some 22 years ago. Please see below: “I will miss the many friends and colleagues with whom I’ve been fortunate to work these past few years. I’m hopeful that much of the work we began will continue, despite the change in funding. I can be reached at shoshana66@gmail.com.”

Our New President 1 Grants, Publications, Presentations 1 Personal Happenings 2 DFSM New Years’s Bash 3 How We Get Better 4 MMC Salutes 4

Table of Contents

Inside

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This month’s … continued from page 1 Asgary RG: Reviewer, Working Group on Community-Based Primary Health Care, Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Community-based Primary Health Care in Child Health, International Health Section, American Public Health Association, Nov 2007 Sidel VW, “Contrasting U.S. War on Vietnam & Iraq ”, Annual Meeting, American Public Health Association, Washington, DC, November 5, 2007

Sidel VW, “Opposition to U.S. Attack on Iran,” Annual Meeting, American Public Health Association, Washington DC, November 5, 2007

Sidel VW, “The Ethics of Healthcare Reform in Anticipation of the Presidential Primaries” Weill Medical College of Cornell University, November 27, 2007

Fornari A, Santos M, Valdivieso G. Teaching COPC and Advocacy during a 3rd year Clerkship through Community Projects. Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Predoctoral Conference, Portland, Oregon, January, 2008.

Fornari A, Santos M, Deen D. Residency Specialty Choice in Primary Care: When Do Students Make their Decision and Why? Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Predoctoral Conference, Portland, Oregon, January, 2008.

Myers DC, Beil R, Meacher P, Fornari A. Fulfilling A Need: Addressing Healthcare Issues for Our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Patients. Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Predoctoral Conference, Portland, Oregon, January, 2008.

Congratulations! To Dr. Felise Milan, who last July, was appointed as the new Director of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) course at AECOM. Dr. Milan also directs the third-year Clinical Skills Assessment Program, a position she has held since 2004. A nationally recognized expert in faculty development, Dr. Milan trains all Einstein faculty who conduct videotape reviews. A new clinical skills training and assessment center, slated to open in renovated space in Van Etten in 2008, features 20-22 fully equipped examination rooms where students will learn, practice, and are tested on physical diagnosis under Dr. Milan's directorship. Congratulations! Josephine S. Minardo, Psy.D., Behavioral Science Faculty, recently appointed to serve as Parliamentarian of the New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA). As a senior member of the Association customarily holds this office, this is an even greater honor, making Dr. Minardo the youngest psychologist to ever serve as Parliamentarian. Dr. Minardo was also recently elected to a national position by the American Psychological Association (APA) to serve as the State Representative to the Board of the Committee of Early Career Psychologists.

Congratulations! To Dr. Alice Fornari on being selected the recipient for the 2007-2008 STFM Faculty Enhancement Award Program. The Faculty Enhancement Award was initiated in 1996-1997 and provides mini-fellowships for family medicine educators to learn from their peers at other institutions. The goal of this award is to enhance leadership, teaching, and/or administrative skills of mid-career family medicine faculty. To reach her goal she will participate in a comprehensive assessment program at the University of Rochester Medical School for second-year medical students.

Personal

Happenings

AAMC Update by Vic Sidel The DFSM played a major role in the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, DC in November 2007, at which Drs. Matt Anderson and Jaime Gofin (Community-Oriented Primary Care, Hadassah and Hebrew University School of Public Health) were the featured speakers at a session on “Social Medicine: Past, Present and Future.” Dr. Peter Selwyn, Paul Meissner, and Alan Cross (Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina) participated in the lively discussion that followed, which was moderated by Drs. Desmond Runyan (UNC) and Vic Sidel. Our department also mounted an exhibit at the meeting on “Innovations in Social Medicine Education”. Those involved in the preparation and staffing of the exhibit included Paul Meissner, Laureen Ojalvo (a MD-PhD student who is a leader in the AECOM student-run Social Medicine Course), and Dr. Peter Selwyn. We look forward to our continued involvement of the DFSM with AAMC.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

~ ~ ~ ~ Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein

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DFSM’s Annual Post-New Years Bash!!!

Thank you to all who joined us at our Annual Post-New Year’s Bash on Friday, January 4, 2008 at Salsa Caterers. This year was a very successful event with representation of faculty, residents and staff from DFSM, FHC, Williamsbridge, CHCC and much more. We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2009!!!

Featured Photos (from left to right):

- Faculty, residents, and staff dancing the night away - Drs. Eliana Korin and David Herszenson - FHC Staff - Dr. Soloway and wife Lourdes – yes, he can dance - More dancing from residents and staff

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MMC Salutes…to our DFSM members To NW7 Nursing Attendants “I salute all the wonderful nursing attendants who cared for me while I was a patient on NW7. They all took care of my every need and maintained a courteous disposition throughout my entire stay. I was a happy patient thanks to them!”- V.B. (X) To Samantha Fuster (MMG School Health)“Samantha is an extraordinary person. She is kind and caring, and it shows in her work! Samantha has an inner beauty that shines.” - N.R. (Bx) To Terriann James (MMG Williamsbridge) "Terriann is wonderful and pleasant. I am so happy to know that she works here. She is always smiling and I appreciate the warm welcome each and every time I visit.” - L.B. (Bx) Newest DFSM Baby

Congratulations! Nicole Kirchen on the birth of her twin boys, Ethan William and Logan Matthew Kircsak. Ethan and Logan were born on January 15, 2008 at 5:36 and 5:37am; both weighed 5lb 12oz and were 19 inches long.

DFSM Newsletter is produced by the Department of Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Ce nter Managing Editor/Designer: Tami Lee Rivera – tariver@montefiore.org

How We Get Better By Dr. Victoria Gorski

“How you get better” and “how you work within the system” are shorthand for the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education core competencies of Practice-based Learning and Improvement and Systems Based Practice. There are a variety of approaches for supporting development of these competencies among residents and faculty of the Department of the Family and Social Medicine and the Residency Program in Social Medicine. They include attention to ongoing feedback regarding clinical care and education, a focus on best evidence and critical thinking, understanding the health care system with its strengths and limitations (a.k.a. the social medicine curriculum) and engagement in continuous quality improvement (CQI). This article briefly describes one initiative targeted at quality improvement and practice performance improvement. The family medicine track is engaging residents and faculty in CQI teams with other staff at the Family Health Center (FHC) and at the Williamsbridge Family Practice (WB). This project is being developed with the support of HRSA Title VII residency training grant funding that was awarded in July 2005. The current areas of interest of the teams are meant to work synergistically with other activities focused on smoking cessation and better care for people with diabetes. Smoking cessation was chosen because of the dramatic impact that tobacco use has on health and because of the momentum established by BronxBREATHES, funded by the NYS Department of Health Tobacco Control Program. Diabetes care processes and outcomes were chosen because both FHC and WB have been engaged in national and citywide diabetes collaboratives aimed at improving care for this prevalent and chronic condition. The teams’ efforts have included actions to enhance utilization of the “Fax to Quit” program, decrease LDL cholesterol levels and increase levels of physical activity among people with diabetes. Teams presented their work in May, and will do so annually, to members of the department and to representatives of Montefiore’s clinical and quality leadership.

Victoria Gorski is the education leader in this initiative and she and other members of the department have presented aspects of the work at the American Association of Medical Colleges meeting, the AECOM symposium on Health Care Quality and Outcomes in Education, Research, and Practice and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Conference on Practice Improvement. At this year’s STFM conference, chief resident David Herszenson joined Dr. Gorski. He was also lead author on a poster based on his social medicine project “Who Will Decide for You? Health Care Proxy Completion in an Urban Practice”. American Airlines lost the poster itself, but a paper version was a good stand in and received quite a bit of attention. Anna Flattau (pictured right) presented a poster at the conference entitled “Development of Written Education Materials for Patients with Chronic Wounds”.

Ethan Logan